Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I have been playing a 5 string for almost 10 years. I now have my very first 4003, and I have an issue! I have a particular song where I play an F#, then D then E then F# again. A little reminiscent of the song the Nerds played in the movie. On a 5 string I go down to the low D and I rattle the joint. Today with the Rick, I went to the higher F# D E F# and it sounded weak! So, my dumb question is, should I have played the low F#, go up to the D and back down to open E and F#? I tried it once and it didn't "feel" right.

If it doesn't "feel" right, don't do it! You'll find a way to adapt. I usually use 2 basses, a 4 and a 5 string. at a gig and switch depending on the song.

get a 5 string Ric!!! ... or convert one 4 to 5 ...

http://www.3dentourage.com/425/

I stay away from 4 string basses ... they don't feel right ...

One option would be to tune the E string down to D, but that would require retuning mid-set, as well as relearning the notes on the E string. But it is doable! I had a Hipshot D-tuner on my Jazz Bass and used to detune mid-song.

Or you could get an octave pedal and play the notes an octave higher. In fact, that might be the best option to cover the lower notes?...

Hehe, Jeff's opinions are legendary. Sure, a 5 string Rick is an option, but I'm guessing the 4003 is a 4 banger. And I'm not sure everyone has the same drive to convert things.

Harry's suggestion has merit, especially if there are a lot of songs that need a D or Eb and gettig a 5 string Rick is out of the question. It's not the best on the string to have the constant tweaking, but I've never broken an E...and it would take a LONG time for the retuning to do that to that string. A hip-shot is a possibility, although I'm not sure I'd want to do that on the new Rik...

Javier IMO has the best suggestion...if you still have your 5 string.

I've been tuning my E down to D for years for certain songs especially if they are in the key of D. That was what a lot of people did before 5 string basses became popular and a lot of mid 70's pop tunes incorporated that sound as it was different for then. I do it by ear. Tune to stop the beats with your open D sting for D then tune with the overtone on your 7th fret A string which is an E and also stop the beats to get back up to E. You can get used to playing with your E tuned to D. If your not comfortable doing that I'd play all in the low register except for the D.

I find detuning a 4001/4003 to low D doesn't work because of the 33 1/4" scale ... the low string becomes a little lifeless and dull sounding ... but e flat tuning works very well on a Ric ... before I switched to 5 string basses I had a jazz bass tuned to DGCF and a p-bass tuned to e flat and a Ric tuned normal ... I got tired of switching basses ... so I play 5 string basses ... so unless I need a low A I can get whatever note I need from the 5 string bass ...

5-string basses are just wrong.

Depends on the type of strings you use, I have no problems with mine.

THere's just nothing like that low D, either dropped or on a fiver. I'm playing a Lakland 55-94 with a 35" scale ,and I can see that a shorter scale would not producethe same oomph. I might add that forthe "Big Generator" era of Yes, Squire had a custom made bass that would tune to low A! Now thaz low!!!

hey Ronn ... I used to feel the same way ...

just imagine playing your bass with your E string removed ... that is what a 4 string bass feels like to me ... it is missing a string ... I had to retrain my brain to be more comfortable with the 5 ...

I play 4 and 5 but i like 4 more. But i hate down tuning anything. I cant even stand going down half a step. Much less to low A. Thats just crazy.

or have a bass tuned BEAD ...

You can tune a Ric DGCF if you get fatter strings ... get a .110 .90 .70 .50 set of strings ... I tried that for a while but I felt it was easier to just go with a 5 string bass ...

I don't think I would like it, I play 6-string basses, the old E-E type, and love them, and for years I only played Hamer 12-string basses, but those notes lower than E on a 5 just sound weird to me.

I suppose I should mention I play in a praise band at church and we only do 5 songs. Switching instruments for one of them is too much "visibility". We are trying to be "transparent"!